West Side Nut Club offers 12th edition of Santa Land

JASON CLARK / COURIER & PRESS
Joann Logan holds her 15-month-old grandson, Ryu Crabtree, of Okinawa, Japan, who seemed to be having second thoughts about meeting the Grinch during the West Side Nut Club's Santa Land in Evansville on Saturday. The event resumes at 3 p.m. today.

2011 Jason Clark

JASON CLARK / COURIER & PRESS
Visitors wait in line during the West Side Nut Club's Santa Land in Evansville on Saturday. Visitors to Santa Land got a chance to see Santa and his helpers, eat cookies and drink hot chocolate while listening to local bands.

2011 Jason Clark

In her native Japan, people celebrate Christmas, but mainly as a romantic event for couples, more like what Americans think of a Valentine's Day, said Yayoi Crabtree.

"Not for me, though," the young mother hastened to add as she stood in a big tent with her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law, waiting to introduce her toddler to Santa Claus on Saturday in the West Side Nut Club's Santa Land.

Crabtree, an Okinawan married to Army Sgt. Isaac Crabtree, stood with the couple's 15-month-old son, Ryu, near her husband's grandmother, Betty Wirth, whom they were visiting en route between military postings in Japan and Germany.

Wirth, an 81-year-old West Sider, met her grandson's wife and child for the first time Saturday, she said. They'd driven up for the afternoon from Columbia, Tenn., with Wirth's daughter, Joann Logan.

Logan, a native West Sider, held Ryu, who gazed about curiously as they waited in the serpentine line snaking through one of the large tents the West Side Nut Club had erected at the corner of 10th and Franklin streets.

This would be Ryu's first experience posing for pictures with the white-bearded Santa her husband had grown up with, so Yayoi Crabtree didn't know what to expect, she said.

They were among about 90 people inside the tent at 3:30 p.m. Outside, another 50 braved 43-degree breezes as they queued to get into the shelter in the Nut Club's 12th annual Christmas presentation.

This year's Santa Land opened last week, and will run again from 3 to 6 p.m. today. During those hours, children can meet pose for photographs with Santa.

"The first picture is always free. If they want an additional pictures, we'll ask for a donation," said Sam Shaw, the Nut Club's president-elect.

The club is trying to cover its expenses for what is essentially a community service for the West Side and for families that may not be able to afford paying for a picture with shopping mall Santa.

Visitors may also get free cookies and hot cocoa, meet costumed children's TV characters outside, and enjoy live music by local bands and choirs.